The Latest from Iran (27 September): Corruption and Economic Crisis
Monday, September 27, 2010 at 7:11
2034 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, at his press conference for Iran's judiciary, said officials were following up the claims of torture in detention made by Hamzeh Karami, former aide to Hashemi Rafsanjani and managing editor of the website Jomhouriyat.
Karami had written a five-page letter about his treatment in prison, parts of which came out in the opposition media. Rafsanjani also personally presented Karami's file to the Supreme Leader and asked for his intervention.
2030 GMT: Oil Squeeze. Earlier today (see 1520 GMT) we reported on the warning by Hamid Katouzian, the chair of Parliament's Energy Commission, that Minister of Oil Masoud Mirkazemi might be impeached if he defied the Majlis over international treaties.
That was not all. Katouzian also took apart Mirkazemi's public claim that Iran was rapidly becoming self-sufficient in gasoline production, warning that such a push --- with measures such as conversion of petrochemical plants --- could be harmful in the long term to the country.